The Democratic Party Moves To Add Support For Marriage Equality To Their Party Platform

The Democratic Platform Drafting Committee responsible for drafting the official party platform for the Democratic Party has decided to add language that expressly outlines their support for marriage equality in the United States of America. What this means is that if this new language is approved, the philosophy of the Democratic Party will officially include support for same-sex marriage. This is important because when people go into the voting booth this November this will clarify what Democrats like President Barack Obama stand for. Click below to read the added language to the Democratic Party Platform.

The Democratic Platform Drafting Committee agreed to add language supporting marriage equality to this year’s party platform, the language of which has not previously been released but which BuzzFeed has obtained. The draft language, shared today with committee members, is:

We support the right of all families to have equal respect, responsibilities, and protections under the law. We support marriage equality and support the movement to secure equal treatment under law for same-sex couples. We also support the freedom of churches and religious entities to decide how to administer marriage as a religious sacrament without government interference. We oppose discriminatory federal and state constitutional amendments and other attempts to deny equal protection of the laws to committed same-sex couples who seek the same respect and responsibilities as other married couples. We support the full repeal of the so-called Defense of Marriage Act and the passage of the Respect for Marriage Act.

The Platform Committee, another body than the Drafting Committee, will have to approve the language when it meets this weekend in Detroit and the convention delegates will have to adopt the platform in Charlotte.

Each political party drafts a platform that outlines the basic foundation of what the party believes. Of course, not every member of that party may necessarily believe with all aspects of their party’s platform but generally, you can understand what a particular member of a political party stands for based on their party platform. And if a party member has a problem with amendments to the platform, they may switch parties. The Democratic Party was the first major party to include racial equality in their platform and now they become the first major party to include marriage equality for same-sex couples. I had a feeling that once President Obama, one of the leaders of the Democratic Party, voiced his support for same-sex marriage, the party might follow his lead and amend their platform to include support by the entire Democratic Party. The new language has to be approved by the Democratic National Convention delegates but I think it’s pretty safe to say that the platform will be updated with this language. Fantastic!

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